God has blessed humanity with many great gifts. I would argue the greatest gift He has bestowed on all humanity (to distinguish from the gifts bestowed only upon the believers) is the gift of imagination.
With our imagination, He enables us to be creative, empathetic, caring. An intellect without imagination is limited in its application. Emotion without imagination is also limited. I believe the gift of imagination is what has made our world what it is today, both good and bad.
We use our imagination to think outside the box, enabling us to make new discoveries and reach beyond our perceived limitations. We use our imagination to sharpen our wits, our sense of humor and our ability to relate to one another. We use our imagination to amuse and entertain, to explore and discover, to build and design. Without our imagination, where would we be?
Sadly, some have used their imagination to make the world a worse place—the creation of toxins and deadly poisons that can wipe out our civilization within a relatively short time, the creation of diabolical plans of genocide and cruelty. The imagination can be used to create cruel and vicious words meant to divide and frighten. Imagination, in the wrong hands, can be devastating to human beings.
In short, as in all things bestowed upon humanity by God, it can be used for great things or abused for great harm.
Imagination and Our Relationship with God
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set into place” (Psalm 8:3) is a verse that speaks to the creativity and imagination of both God and people. Most Bible scholars credit this psalm to David. As David wrote these words, he noticed the creation of the night skies and was in awe of God’s imagination and creation. It also demonstrates David’s imagination. How else can one be in awe of God’s creative skills without imagination? The remainder of the psalm is a further demonstration of David’s use of imagination in his worship of God.
Imagination helps us in our relationship because it allows us to step into Scripture and allows us to step into our relationship with Him. For instance, in Psalm 8, it is easy to imagine David the shepherd, tending the flock. It’s night out in the country, and as he takes his watch, it’s easy to picture him looking up at the stars and the moon. It’s easy to imagine him coming to a wonderful worship experience with God in that setting. The Spirit-inspired use of imagination can paint pictures of God and His activities among us that allows us to better relate to Him. Think of David the shepherd penning the words of Psalm 23.
Imagination also helps us in our relationship with God in the way we use that imagination to make Him more real to us. The hymn, “In the Garden” (which is also a demonstration of great imagination), we are transported into a lovely garden where we walk in quiet solitude with our Savior. When I sing this song, I find myself transported to a small English garden, enclosed with pale gray stone walls, with vines and small trees, shrubs and flowering plants. I see a fountain in the garden, and I see myself walking and talking with Jesus, enjoying His company and knowing that He is enjoying my company, as well.
I’ve had people suggest we use our imaginations in our quiet times, as well. Someone once suggested that we picture ourselves in comfortable room with a couple of cozy chairs and a small table as well as a few other pieces of furnishings. As we enter into our quiet time, we see ourselves coming into the room, where Jesus is already seated. As we enter, He greets us and gestures to the seat nearest Him. We sit, and the conversation begins. That’s one of the ways we enter into an intimate conversation with the Savior and Lord.
Imagination and Scripture
Imagination can also play a part in our understanding of the Bible, but here we must be careful.
I find humor in Scripture, even in parts where humor isn’t the main theme. For instance, in Exodus we read of the people of Israel growing impatient when Moses remains on Mt. Sinai meeting with God. This is only a few days after they had heard God speak the Ten Commandments, and in Moses’ absence, they decide Moses is dead and they need to communicate with God in a different manner. So they get Aaron, Moses’ brother and spokesman, to build them an idol out of gold. Aaron shapes it into the form of a calf, builds an altar for it and he tells the people they will have a feast before God at this altar and idol. God tells Moses to get down the mountain and put an end to their rebellious ways.
To say that Moses’ anger burned greatly is an understatement. God had given Moses tablets God had written on. When Moses saw what was going on, he got so made that he threw the tablets against the mountain, shattering the tablets. He took the golden calf and burnt it in the fire. Then he approached Aaron.
Moses seems to have a willingness to give Aaron the benefit of the doubt for his role in this, because Moses asks Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” (Exodus 32:21).
And Aaron’s response provides the humor in an otherwise very serious passage. Every time I read it, I think of Aaron standing wide eyed and innocent-looking before Moses, and I hear him with a Bill Engvall tone of voice when he does his “Here’s your sign” skit. Aaron’s reply to Moses is, “Do not be angry, my lord. You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Makes us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf” (Exodus 32:22-24).
I love that line—“They gave me the gold, I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf.” I can almost hear Aaron prefacing his story with the words, “It was the darnedest thing, Moses.” In Exodus 32:4, the Bible says that Aaron took what they handed him and made it into an idol in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. But Aaron’s version is, “I just threw some gold into the fire, and I was amazed to see this golden calf come out of the fire.” Aaron’s story completely exonerates him from all responsibility.
The same is true in Adam’s response to God’s question, “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11). Adam’s response seeks to place the blame on Eve and God Himself. “The woman You put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it” (Genesis 3:12). Again, using my imagination, I can see Adam as he tells God, “The woman (here he looks directly at God with a somewhat accusatory look) that You put here with me,” as if to say, “It’s all Your fault, God. I didn’t ask for the woman. It was all Your idea.”
It’s in verses and passages like this that we can use our imagination to paint a fuller picture of the events being written about. It is important, though, that we limit our imagination with Scripture to merely fleshing out the humanity of the passage. It is altogether a different thing to use our imagination to read into Scripture that which is clearly not there, or to so reimagine verses so as to completely take them out of context or original meaning. There are those who like to imagine a closer relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but there is no concrete evidence of such a relationship. The Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted, so it’s not out of the question that Jesus may have been tempted to develop such a relationship, but the Bible is also quick to tell us that Jesus never sinned. Unless Jesus married Mary Magdalene, there was no intimate relationship between the two.
Other people have used their imaginations to so “read into” the Bible meanings and interpretations that ultimately they give rise to cults and deviations never intended by God. Living as I do in the Waco area, and having worked on the local newspaper’s website for the 25th anniversary of the Branch Davidian standoff, I was reminded again of David Koresh’s horribly wrong interpretations of Scripture to justify polygamy, adultery and sex with young girls in his group of followers.
As I said earlier, God has blessed us with imagination, but, like all things we humans come in contact with, we can horribly misuse our God-given gifts. Therefore, as we read the Bible, it’s okay to use our imagination to flesh out the passage and make it more relatable, but we must never use our imagination to so skew the message as to make it something God had never intended.
Conclusion
I cannot fathom a world where we did not have imagination. As stated earlier, I believe it to be the greatest gift He has given outside the gifts of grace, mercy and the indwelling Holy Spirit, as well as the other gifts given specifically to His followers. Toward that end, as we recognize our imagination as a God-given gift, let us use it freely and responsibly, and, as will all things, let God use that imagination for His glory and praise.
© 2018 Glynn Beaty